Kitten Gods: Munchkins
Chapter 1: Thunder's Rage, Shadow's Plight
I'm really sorry for not updating any of my stories for so long, but I've had a bad case of writer's block. Then Blood of Olympus came out (BEST BOOK EVER), so I'm probably going to rewrite those stories when I have the time and the inspiration. Anyway, as anyone who reads my stories knows, I love different cat breeds. I was watching a Too Cute episode about Munchkin kittens (Which, for those of you who don't know, are cats with a mutation that causes their legs to be much shorter) and this idea sprang into my head. So Rhea is a munchkin who had a litter of six kittens named Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia. Cuteness and Kitten FUN galore, as well as some sibling rivalry and Zeus being kinda violent, cuz that's how he is in the myths.
Sorry about rambling just a little.
Please review. They will make me update, like coffee will keep me awake. And constructive, thought out reviews are like coffee with half and half, which keeps me awake and hyper and happy.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Percy Jackson books or the Greek Myths, or even a single munchkin kitten. :'(
Zeus was bored.
None of his siblings wanted to play. Demeter was eating her lunch, Hestia was curled up by the fire, Hera was tearing a mouse apart and growling at everyone who came near, and Poseidon was fishing in his water bowl. Zeus shuddered. He hated water. As for Hades, well… Hades had disappeared. As usual. Looking for him was pointless, Zeus had found.
He had already tried to help Hera with her mouse disembowelment, but she growled at him. He beat a hasty retreat. She was scary when she had neon pink faux fur stuck between her teeth and the Styrofoam innards of the toy mouse grasped in her claws. Before that, he had gone after Demeter's food, but she had flattened her ears back, hissed, and swatted his head. Hard. Poseidon had flicked water at him as he walked past, and he couldn't bring himself to disturb Hestia.
She had played with him this morning, and was all tired out. Her legs were far shorter than his, as he didn't have really short legs like most of his siblings and the rest of the Munchkin breed. Poseidon's were kind of in between, as were Hera's, but Demeter, Hades, and Hestia all had really short legs.
His golden eyes scanned the room before falling on the huge cat tree that was a new installment. In another instant, he was bounding effortlessly across the room, bowling over Demeter on his way, who lashed out at him but didn't chase him. None of his siblings were as fast as him.
As he reached the foot of the cat tree, he bounded onto the first platform and tried to leap to the second, but didn't quite get his legs far enough up and had to resort to a rather undignified scramble to maintain his footing. His golden fur had ruffled in a more kittenish way, he thought, and he spent a few seconds to get his breath back and arrange his fur the way he liked it, with the darker gold-brown tabby stripes slicing like lightening across his sides. Across the room, Poseidon rolled his blue eyes at his brother's vanity, his own blue-grey tabby pelt swirling and fluffy, unkempt enough that Mommy Rhea would drag him with her and groom him herself when she got back. Zeus tried to roll his eyes right back at him, but he had never been able to master that gesture.
Zeus jumped the next two platforms with ease, his long legs coiling like springs to jettison him farther and farther. The tiny brass bell at his throat jingled and clicked against his bronze ID tag and golden glittery collar, which identified him proudly as Zeus.
On his fifth and final jump, however, he propelled himself through the circular hole at the top of the tower, his biggest jump yet. Only then did he realize that the carpeted shelf which ran around the room just a foot below the ceiling ran right over the top perch. He couldn't change direction midair, so he crashed headfirst into the bottom of the shelf that they had named 'the Catwalk', the shelf which only Mommy Rhea could make it up to.
A low purring chuckle as he tumbled to a stop near the edge of the square platform had him glaring at the dark, furry shape that crouched in the corner of the shelf, where there was a soft, leopard print blanket stuffed with catnip. So. Mommy Rhea was no longer the only one who could get up there.
"What do you want, Hades?" Zeus demanded.
He may have had far longer legs than his oldest brother, but Hades was just an inch longer than him, tail tip to nose. He had longer fur, too- black, with faint, dark grey stripes. His eyes were a dark, charcoal grey and his collar was black leather, with a silver skull ID tag and a small silver bell.
Hades looked at him, black whiskers twitching in amusement. "Quite graceful, little brother. As always."
Zeus growled, deep in his throat. Hades never tired of reminding him that he was technically older, and it got on Zeus's nerves. Also, Zeus had never caught him without his air of dignified sarcasm. He never seemed to play at all, and you could bet that every time Zeus or Poseidon did anything out of line, Hades would be the one to tell Mommy Rhea.
Zeus jumped onto the Catwalk and stalked over to the blanket where Hades was sleeping and curled up. After all, there was no reason why Hades should get to have the best blanket in the room all to himself. Surprisingly, Hades didn't protest, just fixed him with his intense gaze, an unsettling look deep in his grey eyes…
| ^~_~^ | ^-_-^ | ^_^ | ^+_+^ | ^-.-^ | ^=_=^ |
Zeus woke up.
The blanket was really very comfy. As usual, when he woke up, he yawned, stretched, and rolled over.
And suddenly felt himself plummeting through the air.
He hadn't fully woken up yet, so he didn't exactly land on his feet. He landed on the couch beneath the Catwalk on his back, and made a dazed squeaking sound, the air abruptly forced out of his lungs. The blanket fell on top of him, muffling his breathless indignant squawks.
A familiar purring chuckle sounded from above him. Hades sat at the edge of the Catwalk, smugly staring down at Zeus.
"You pushed me off!" Zeus puffed, his little lungs trying their best to catch up with him as he scrambled to his paws, claws digging into the cushions of the fluffy aqua plush couch.
"I did not," Hades meowed, a smirk twitching on his lips. "I merely pushed the blanket to the edge. It's your fault you rolled over when you woke up."
Zeus growled. "You devious trickster!" He bounded over to the cat tree and clawed his way up the support beam, not even bothering to jump on the platforms this time. He was fueled by rage and anger.
Hades stood and puffed up his dark fur, eyes locked on Zeus's, but he knew that in a head-on battle like this he was at a disadvantage due to his shorter legs and resulting shorter reach. His best bet would be to tackle Zeus, but even the briefest tussle could result in falling from the narrow shelf.
And while Hades admitted to himself that it had been a little mean to put Zeus so close to the edge, he had been careful to make sure Zeus would fall on the cushy couch. Disorienting? Yes. Humiliating? Perhaps. Harmful? No. Just a little prank. After all, Hades had been simply resting when Zeus came into his personal space. Personal space was one of the things that Hades most valued, and everyone knew it. Had Poseidon or Demeter fallen like that, they would have forgiven him after a fun tumbling playfight, a game masquerading as revenge. Hera would've likely pranked him back, and then ambushed him, and then forgiven him. As for Hestia, she would never have intruded into his space, and even if she had, she was practically exempt from that rule anyways. And no one pranked Hestia. No one even fought that hard against their sweet, loving sister.
But looking into Zeus's cold golden eyes, he found himself hoping Mommy Rhea would come back, and if Hestia would wake up and try to help if things got too rough.